


Before and After

by i_just_knew1013



Category: The X-Files
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-12-08 18:27:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11652201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_just_knew1013/pseuds/i_just_knew1013





	Before and After

In Mulder’s life, there was always Before and After. Before his sister disappeared, he was Fox Mulder, the funny older brother that kept his sister in tow most days, while trying to act like he was too cool for her. He wanted desperately to get away from her, to be his own person. But he was responsible for walking her to and from school every day, making sure she had her lunch and books with her when they left the house and protecting her from bullies on the walk in between. Tall and gangly even at 12 years old, he would dribble his basketball, walking slightly ahead of Samantha, while she half-ran behind him, trying to keep up, with her braids bouncing down her back and one shoelace of her saddle shoes always untied. Mulder would get passed by classmates on their way to school who didn’t have little sisters dragging them down, girls who recognized through the gangly stature and face that hadn’t yet grown in to it’s nose, that Mulder was slowly turning in to a Greek God. These girls would giggle coyly at him as they walked by. “Heyyy Foxy… see you in class?” To which Mulder would merely nod, keeping his eyes focused on the pavement ahead. At school, after he had safely deposited Samantha at her Elementary, Mulder would head to his locker, where he would stash his ball and retrieve his books, usually running in to friends from class. There was always light banter, some discussion about the latest episode of The Magician, the length of Tammy K’s skirt, and whether anyone had actually done the homework for 3rd period French. 

His relationship with his parents was different Before as well. Before Samantha was taken, his mother spent a lot of her time on social committees. She was part of the Junior League, the PTA, Ladies for the Rebeautification of Martha’s Vineyard, and a score of other prestigious groups. His mother asked about his day, showed up to his basketball games on occasion, and would sometimes invite him to sit with her in her bedroom to talk to her while she worked on correspondence for the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mulder’s father was always stern, but before Samantha was taken, he was more “present.” He was home for dinner, he talked to him family. He laughed. 

After Samantha was taken, everything stopped. Mulder didn’t leave his room for the first two days, his house for two weeks. After the authorities finished their initial investigation, and neighbors stopped leaving casseroles (why is it always casseroles?) the house became eerily silent. Mulder and his parents stayed in their respective spaces in the home; Dad was in his office, Mom in the bedroom, and Mulder in his room. Mulder’s mom just went to bed after Samantha was taken and didn’t get up for weeks. Occasionally, Mulder would hear his parents late at night having hushed arguments. He never could figure out what they were arguing about, but he did hear his name along with Samantha’s from time to time. At meal times, Mulder and his father would sit at the breakfast table, with it’s vinyl seats and avocado green trim, and silently pick at lukewarm casseroles and ham sandwiches. His mother shuffled around like a ghost in her bathrobe. No one ever turned on any lights; the rooms were lit by the light that peeked through the slits in the curtains, dust floating through the air. When the sun went down, everyone just went to bed. Mulder’s battle with insomnia started about this time. He began having night terrors about Samantha being abducted. Mulder would wake up screaming, soaked in sweat and tears, with the sound of Samantha’s voice shouting his name, Fox, haunting his memory. Back then, it wasn’t standard for parents to send their kids to psychiatrists to help them deal with trauma like this; family took care of their problems at home, they didn’t talk about them with other people. One night, after nearly a month of deafening silence, Mulder’s father announced that Mulder was going back to school. Mulder wanted to protest that he couldn’t bear it, that he couldn’t stand the people and the questions, but his father’s word was law, so Mulder nodded and went to bed. The next morning he gathered his books and walked to school. People in the neighborhood stared at him like he was a stranger. No one spoke to him. The girls who used to flirt with him looked at him with pity, but had no words of comfort to offer to the boy whose sister was stolen right in front of him. Everything on the route to school reminded him of Samantha. When he passed the elementary school, some of the children in the yard who had been Samantha’s classmates recognized him. When they called out to him; he had to run to the side of the building and vomit in the bushes. Once at his own school, Mulder walked to his locker to get his books. When he sat down in class, his teacher greeted him “Welcome back Fox” Suddenly, Mulder’s head began to spin, and he heard Samantha’s voice yelling for him, asking for help. Mulder looked at his teacher and said in a quiet, but firm voice “Please, call me Mulder.”


End file.
